Every depression generates a clamor among many groups for special privileges at the expense of the rest of society—and the American depression that struck in 1784–85 was no exception.
How did the federal government acquire this omnipotent power? Certainly not by constitutional amendment. It acquired it by converting the federal government after World War II from a limited-government republic to a national security state.
The latest impeachment saga simply confirms Thomas Paine’s adage: “The trade of governing has always been monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind.” Score another victory for the Swamp.
Social activists now regard the minimum wage as another welfare program that can reduce the costs of programs like Medicaid and food stamps, and can reduce inequality. But the minimum wage is very poorly targeted for these purposes.
Let's take a sober and even-handed look at what economics and empirical studies have to say about minimum wage hikes. Krugman and Biden claim there's no evidence these hikes affect employment. But they are being misleading.
A state's borders should change over time to reflect demographic and ideological realities. By denying this, political leaders are effectively saying that the rights of minority populations don't matter.
Mainstream economists claim China needs more consumption and a bigger welfare state. They think China's high savings rate is a bad thing. These economists are wrong.
We're now hearing many calls for more antitrust legislation applied to Big Tech because these firms are allegedly monopolies. But old-fashioned antitrust was a disaster, as will be new efforts against tech companies.
It's conservatives, not libertarians, who are naïve about big media power.
Negative rates are a huge transfer of the wealth of savers and real wages to the government and the indebted. A tax on caution. The destruction of the perception of risk that always benefits the most reckless.
